JAMES HICKMAN hopes "safety in numbers" will help minimise the pressure he might face trying to live up to his billing as a serious medal prospect in Athens.

The 28-year-old butterfly ace from Manchester admits he might feel under far greater pressure if he was one of just a few medal hopes in the pool.

However, the fact that British swimming has come on in leaps and bounds in the four years since Sydney means more athletes are in with a chance in the pool, and he is using that to his advantage.

"The fact that we have a lot of highly ranked people takes the pressure off you as an individual.

"Look at Tim Henman at Wimbledon, all the pressure is on him. I think if there were three of four Tim Henmans vying for the Wimbledon tennis crown for Britain, it would be a lot easier to achieve.

"You had to be ranked in the top 12 in the world to make this swimming team, which is the hardest qualifying time in the world, so the whole of the world knows the British team had a hard qualifying standard, and that's great.

"I am realistic enough to know I have to take a lot off my time, but I am also realistic enough to know that in an Olympic final anyone from lane one to eight can win - I have seen it happen, so I just want to get in that final."

Hickman, who will be retiring in December, gave another insight into the no-nonsense approach of tough coach Bill Sweetenham, although he admitted things were a little more relaxed at the holding camp here in Cyprus.

He explained, "After we qualified for the Olympics this year we went to the French Olympic trials but we were staying in Belgium which was a 40-minute bus ride away.

It meant they had to be up by 5.30am so they could be the first team at the pool, where they stayed all day whether they were competing or not. It was also not easy doing a full training session with 50 or 60 people in your lane, he said.

"Other teams might have rebelled very hard and indeed Bill was called all the names under the sun, but we wanted to go along with it because we all knew it was his way of making us better and we wanted to give it the chance to work - we have been very professional and hopefully the results will speak for themselves.